The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Wes Anderson directs. Robert D. Yeoman behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. Andrew Weisblum cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 5 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, English.
• 3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
• 4418+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 5Directed by Wes Anderson, shot by Robert D. Yeoman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Andrew Weisblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Benicio del Toro and Adrien Brody and Tilda Swinton carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Bringing the world to Kansas, one eccentric story at a time.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt8847712 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 27 themes, including "art collector", "journalist", "small town", "france".

The technical file

Cinematography

Robert D. Yeoman

Original score

Alexandre Desplat

Editing

Andrew Weisblum

Production design

Adam Stockhausen

Costume design

Milena Canonero

Makeup / hair

Aurélie Bouchet

VFX supervisor

Vico Sharabani

Sound

Chris Scarabosio

Stunt coordinator

Dominique Fouassier

Runtime

108 min · 1h 48m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$25,000,000

Box office

$46,333,545

Return

185% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021) ↗

Also by

Wes Anderson

• 
  The Grand Budapest Hotel

  2014 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Fantastic Mr. Fox

  2009 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Isle of Dogs

  2018 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Moonrise Kingdom

  2012 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Royal Tenenbaums

  2001 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More

  2024 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Scene at the Academy

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Now on Digital

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  “The Theory and Practice of Editing New Yorker Articles” with Bill Murray

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  "I Don't Love You" Clip

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  "No Crying" Clip

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  "From Angouleme to Ennui" Featurette

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Amos32021-11-03
  ★ 9/10

  Yet again a great piece of art!

  Read full review ↓
• Manuel São Bento2021-11-14
  ★ 5/10

  FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/the-french-dispatch-spoiler-free-review "The French Dispatch possesses all of Wes Anderson's trademark quirks, but this time, even hardcore fans of his unique style will struggle to not feel overwhelmed. Every filmmaking department shines in such an impressive manner that one could call this movie a "technical masterpiece" packed with fantastic performances across the board. Unfortunately, the cliche criticism "style over substance" fits this picture too well. The infinite amount of Anderson-ish quirks transforms the already uninteresting narrative with emotionally hollow characters into an extremely challenging, hard-to-follow story. In four simple words: it's just too much..." Rating: C+

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2022-03-04
  ★ 9/10

  Impeccably well made, supremely enjoyable. This is only the second Wes Anderson film that I've seen (fwiw, first was <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/moonrise-kingdom/" rel="nofollow">Moonrise Kingdom</a>'</em> which I didn't like all that much <em>hides</em>) and now I can better understand the hype that man gets. <em>'The French Dispatch'</em> is quality, plain and simple. The ensemble cast are a delight, with many a familiar face spread across each segment and each one of them bringing entertaining performances. Frances McDormand would be my standout performer, closely followed by Benicio del Toro. Though, to be honest, all them are terrific - from Owen Wilson to Adrien Brody to Léa Seydoux to Timothée Chalamet to Jeffrey Wright. Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Bill Murray star too. Unreal casting, that! Anthology flicks can be hit-and-miss for me personally, though to be fair my predominant previous exposure to them has been via those cheaply made Disney animated sequels from yesteryear so time will tell if that feeling holds. I'm pleased to say here, though, that I thoroughly enjoyed watching one develop. It helps that this release knits the segments together seamlessly, with stunning cinematography, editing et al. Loved the animated part, too.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Indian Paintbrush

  US

• 

  American Empirical Pictures

  US

• 

  Studio Babelsberg

  DE

Key crew

• Camera TraineeCourtney Fehsenfeld
• Second Assistant CameraNicolas Voisin
• Still PhotographerRoger Do Minh
• First Assistant CameraVincent Scotet
• Set DecorationRena DeAngelo
• Assistant Set DecorationHélène Dubreuil
• Visual EffectsAarif Attarwala
• Set DresserMathias Canard
• Set DesignerChristine Vincent-Genod
• Set DesignerCarine Demonguères
• Makeup ArtistAurélie Bouchet
• Costume SupervisorPatricia Colin
• Makeup ArtistEmmanuelle Pombet
• Visual Effects ProducerWendy Garfinkle
• Makeup ArtistOdile Fourquin
• Makeup ArtistFrédérique Ney
• VFX ArtistEmanuele Farnesi
• Makeup ArtistMaya Benamer
• Sound Re-Recording MixerChris Scarabosio
• VFX ArtistAlexander Ha
• Sound Re-Recording MixerCraig Berkey
• Supervising Sound EditorChris Scarabosio
• Main Title DesignerJeff Kryvicky
• Production SecretaryFanny Floupin

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• art collector
• journalist
• small town
• france
• poison
• 1970s
• journalism
• editor-in-chief
• artist
• imprisonment
• painter
• riot
• anthology
• magazine
• food poisoning
• murderer
• chef
• lecture
• post world war ii
• child kidnapping
• obituary
• bicycle tour
• poisoning
• father son relationship
• lighthearted
• whimsical
• vibrant

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2021-10-02· New York Film Festival
• Premiere2021-10-14· Heartland International Film Festival
• Premiere2021-10-15· San Diego International Film Festival
• Premiere2021-10-20· Independent Film Festival Boston / Philadelphia International Film Festival
• Premiere2021-10-21· Montclair Film Festival
• Premiere2021-10-27· Virginia Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2021-10-22R
• Theatrical2021-10-29R
• Digital2021-12-14R
• Digital2022-02-25R· HBO Max

Also known as

International titles

• La crónica francesa del Liberty, Kansas Evening SunES
• Fransız PostasıTR
• 法蘭西特派週報：堪薩斯州自由城太陽晚报TW
• Ֆրանսիական դիսպետչերըAM
• The French DispatchUS
• Французский вестник. Приложение к газете «Либерти. Канзас ивнинг сан»RU
• Французский вестникRU
• A Crônica Francesa do Liberty, Kansas Evening SunBR